I was there all the time, while you were gone
One day you were there, the next day, gone
Everything was going good
So I never understood what went wrong
I never understood what I did so wrong
Because one day you were there
And the next day; bright, and early, gone
I never understood how another girl
Became your "number one"
Things started to turn south
When I noticed you were gone more
You'd make sure you were always quiet
When you managed to make your way home
And came through the door
Quiet as can be, so you didn't wake me up
Because you didn't want me to know
That you were actually out after work
With some girl who had a baby
Which made you look like a creep
How could you hit me below the belt, so deep?
You went and wandered the streets
Looking for someone else to satisfy
You and your petty selfish needs
You were playing house with someone else
Giving someone else the attention I was supposed to get
Not even caring to ask how I even felt
You hit me in the face one, slapped rather
That was a one time thing, not a big deal or matter
Because you hit me in front of my mother
And she told you point blank
"If you're going to hit my daughter;
You need to take a breath and really think"
And then I chimed in with;
"It's okay because if he ever tries or does it again;
I'll go to jail for breaking his **** hand."
The audacity this fool think he had
Cheated on me because I can't have kids
And he apparently wanted to be a dad
All you had to do was say something to me
That's something I would have come to understand
But instead you became unfaithful and left me sad
I really had feelings for you because I became obsessed
Starting going to work with you
And sitting in your vehicle for 8-12 hours like I was possessed
You drove me so crazy I didn't know what else to do
Then one day it all became clear
I wasn't needed anymore here
So I left, and never looked back.

Stephanie A. Ludwig
04/25/2025

You were someone I thought I could trust
But I was far from right, as I was completely wrong
Because you didn't want anything to do with me
When I made the attempts to create our own song
You waited until the lights got turned down or off
You waited until the shades were closed
I wish I never stayed with you,  
But my feelings for you were too deep
You waited until I was sound asleep
You waited so you could slide
your hands underneath my clothes
You waited to show your true intentions
You waited to show your true self,
And I just have to be honest,
I was consumed more by disgust
Because you were someone
I thought I honestly could trust
Every night though, you just waited until I was asleep
to do what you needed to,
I can't believe what I went through
In order to relieve yourself,  
because you needed to bust a nut
So I figured out what you were actually doing one night
By pretending to be sound asleep,
just the way you liked it, or so it seemed
And I would breathe as if I was sleeping,
Just so you wouldn't catch me
While I was watching you creeping
Taking my hand and stroking your shaft
I realized what was happening
when the blankets seem to miraculously move
And I suddenly started shaking, catching a cold draft
You were disgraceful, you were obnoxious
You are a ****** predator looking for it's next prey
I hope one day you literally get put away
You did things to me when I was sleeping!
How can you wake up the next day
Smiling, with that on your conscience
I just continued to let it happen,
and I still don't know why
Because it's been many years since then,
and I still sit here and cry
Maybe it's because I just don't understand
Why you would abuse me while I'm asleep
And not just use your own **** hand!
You are a very troubled boy,
And you are someone who will never be a man!



Stephanie A. Ludwig
04/24/2025

He who shall not be named,
Is the beginning, the creator, the cause
Of the rewiring, and the broken pieces to my brain
For I was just only 18 years old
He was a little older, maybe 20
But what he put me through
Felt like a world of hell, eternally
For I was not experienced, I was a ******
It all changed after the night I gave in,
With barely an ounce of courage
For after that, he changed and became sexually enraged
I didn't want it like he did, My life was becoming a bid
I would lock myself in the bathroom like it was a hidden cage
Only because he forced himself upon me and I always cringed
He tried busting through the door!
So I got really scared and started shouting
I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS ANYMORE!!
But it didn't help, a house full of people
And all I could do was silently cry, and welp
Being dragged back to the bedroom that I now hated
Feeling so disrespected, so misguided, so jaded
I would tell him no, please don't do this
He'd look at me and tear my clothes off,
With an eager look in his eyes, as he's licking his lips
I'd push him away, I'd push him off of me!
But he was stronger and he held me down!
He covered my face with a pillow, hollowing out the sound
A house full of people, and they thought I was just going to town
After a while I gave up and let him just have it, have me
And every relationship after that, was the same
Yet, somehow, so much more differently
The bruises I had developed on the inside of my legs
Were always blue and purple, and sometimes even beat red!
Only the punishment didn't stop there, that's where it began
He treated me like I was part of a *******
Like I was just some pig he wanted to hurt and hang
After 6 months, I finally told him I needed space
I don't know how I managed to gather the strength
To look this monster in his eyes, straight to his face
I told him, I said,
"You need to leave and never come back to this place!"
The next day I told everyone who was there at the house
But no one believed me, so I continued to live in trauma
All by myself, and all alone, and as silent as a mouse.
For he was the first person to introduce me into a world like that
Which is something I'm trying my hardest to let go of and forget!


Stephanie A. Ludwig
04/24/2025

It's two or three in the morning and I'm sound asleep
Next thing I know, I'm being woken up,
No longer peaceful, or dreaming of cows and sheep
Woken up with his arm around my neck, squeezing my throat
It's two or three in the morning and I just want to sleep
I never did anything to this person, he was just a mean creep
Meanwhile, I'm being choked for refusing to get up
To make him a sandwich. Of all sandwiches, a PB&J
My first reaction to this encounter was to scream or shout
But I couldn't, I couldn't move, and I could barely breathe
That's when I knew this wasn't a man who loved me
This was a boy who had problems being told no, accordingly
I took my free arm, and I used all the strength I had left
And I slapped him in his face, hard as I could just to break free
Then it escalated and I was thrown out of the room, violently
His whole family was there, as it was a farmhouse
From the recent incident, I had new found holes in my night blouse
But when it all came to the light, I was somehow at fault
I'm the one who got choked, and treated like dirt
But everyone took his side, and that simply.. Hurt
His whole family came at me, and attacked me verbally
When I told my side of the story, they just looked at me like I was crazy
There was no way he could "hurt someone, especially a woman physically"
I knew then and there, that I was on my own
I stayed. I don't know why. But I stayed.
Things kept happening, but the final straw
was when we went out of town
We went to PA to pick up his cousin,
what a mistake that was for me,
As I was too blind to come to terms with what was already known
He was cheating on me with this girl.
Treating her like gold, like she was the only woman in the world
I couldn't believe my eyes, or my ears when it all came to light
I stood there like a fool, trying to preach my case, trying to fight
For a boy who pretended to be a caring man
Only to find out, he was playing family with his own cousins hand
After a year and a half, I decided to leave
Because it wasn't worth suffocating, when I needed to breathe
To this day, I still find it so hard to believe
That he ultimately chose his own cousin over me.
I was just the victim in his story, obviously.
But he was nothing but a simple minded person to his family
It was a scary time for me as I was so young
But like they always say, fools fall in love
While being, young and dumb
I'm just grateful I could get away from this evil one.


Stephanie A. Ludwig
04/24/2025

It's not you, It's me
I try to get you to understand me
But I always fail, effortlessly
Because it's not you, but me
I love the way you're over protective of me
But I don't like the way I make you treat me
I just try to get you to understand me
But, still, I fail, every time completely
Because I can't get through to you clearly
I love the way you defend me
But I don't like the way I drive you crazy
Because again, it's not you, but me
There's a lot going on in my life right now
Especially with my health, but also mentally
I try so hard to do better and be better
But I fail, every. single. ****. time, miserably
Because I simply just don't know how
I don't know how to do better or be better
I grew up young, matured faster than I should have
I had to learn how to do things on my own
Life was becoming more difficult
Everyday became wishes of suicide
Visions of hanging from the window pane
I needed guidance, I needed help,
I didn't know how to deal with the thoughts in my young brain
But ultimately I had to learn.. The hard way
And hard decisions had to be made,
And hard lessons had to be learned,
Respect was drilled to be given, not earned
Hard times had to be dealt with, at such a young age
And now that I'm an adult,
I'm back in that same **** cage
It's not you, it's me, it's never been you, but always me
I'm hurt; and hurt people.. hurt people
It's not fair, but that's the way the game is played
Perhaps I'd be molded differently if,
My mother had left, and my father had decided to stay
But in the end, neither one of them wanted me anyway
It's never been you, it's been me the whole time
I am unstable, I am mentally crippled, and physically numb
I act out, I scream, I yell, I cry and I shout
And because I'm caught up in a circle of rage
A lot of the **** I say is mean, or just violently dumb
So no baby, it's not you, it's me
I wish sometimes more than anything
To be able to let you go, to set you free
But the end result of that wouldn't be fair to you, or me
Because I am a hurt person, and yes I hurt others too
But this life I'm currently living in
Is a life too hard for me to take on, by myself
And as much as I want to say goodbye to you
I just can't, because I can't live this life without you.
It's me, not you,
and I don't know how to stop hurting you.
With all my heart, body, and soul, I truly do love you
I want to do better and be better
But I just simply don't know what to do
If anything, I just want you to know,
It's me… and not you.


Stephanie A. Ludwig
04/24/2025

Living a life like mine is like living through a deck of cards
At first everything seems easy, seems simple,
And then out of nowhere,  everything then becomes hard
There's the cards that are numbered 1-10
Those cards are nice, low, and calm;
I also have days where I'm nice, low, and calm… but not often
Then there's the cards that start with an Ace..
This is a tricky card as it can represent two different things;
1 or 11, depends on the game or the strategy you're using
I have multiple days of being an Ace, why?
Because of the pain I hide on my face
Because of the feeling that I belong somewhere, yet still out of place
I can relate to being an Ace because there are days and times
Where I don't know if I'm coming or going,
or who I even want to be sometimes,
Like some days I love nothing but silence,
Then some other days, I love the soothing sound of windchimes
See how confusing it is living a life as if you were a deck of cards?
I don't know how I do it honestly, life sometimes gets really too hard
Coming next is the King and Queen. Rawr.
Somedays I feel like I am all mighty!
Those are the days I like to keep everything including myself tidy!
But, if I'm not next to my King, then that's when I become A Jack..
A complete and miserable Jack..***!
My moods change quicker than I can even try to begin to get grasped!
I look forward to my future; and although it;
might be kind of hard to see or believe, I do
But when I'm being a *******, time stops,
everything stops, I lose focus and I lose my breath and then I collapse
Because those are the days I'm usually getting stuck remembering my past
Then you have the Joker Card, oooh this is my favorite card
Here's why, It doesn't have a set label, it can be its own thing
I have several days where I don't know what tomorrow will bring
Moods swinging near or far, barely hanging on by a thread
Wishing some days that I can take back certain words I've ever said
But that's not how life works, especially not a life like a deck of cards
Moods are okay today, but what about tomorrow? Or the next day?
Jokers are my type of card to play, just be careful what you do or say
I'm not a mean person by nature or by blood,
but it's something I've gotten good at these days
I'm living my life with multiple moods,
And possibly even with multiple personalities;
But somewhere along the cards in my brain, I'm somewhat tamed
I may be put together well on the outside;
But if you ever lived a life like mine, you'd never be the same
Because I won't lie, some days I hear nothing on the inside;
And some other days I hear voices that drive me absolutely insane
And living in today's society, and in today's day in age;
And because my moods are so relatable to the characters in a deck of cards
I have earned the jester of having Jekyll & Hyde as my middle name
I know I need to get my mind right, I'm not going to give up or stray
But I'm currently stuck in my own terrifying ways,
and I'm not sure if I really want to change.


Stephanie A. Ludwig
04/21/2025

What if the heart really doesn't know..
Before I continue this, I'll tell you what inspired this poem
The saying(s) go(es) something like;
"The heart knows what it wants.";
Or; "Always follow your heart."
Well, back to the poem, just hear me out though
What if the heart really doesn't know what it wants?
What if we "think" we know what it wants by, in fact, manipulation?
I mean come on, think about it, our minds also have a need for dictation
and our mind's can't help but crave a life full of harmful justifications
So what if the heart is fooled into thinking it knows what it wants?
I seriously cannot be the only person with these kinds of thoughts?
I  thought I knew what it was supposed to be like, to be loved
But little did I know, that soon, the honeymoon would be over;
And the bond we once shared, we once had, became weak, and unplugged
What if my heart "thought" I "felt" like I was being loved?
Because I'm down as low as I can be or get;
So why does this person I deeply love so much, continue to push and shove?
What if my heart doesn't know
What if my heart doesn't even have a clue? So please tell me brain;
What in the hell am I supposed to do?!
They say to listen to the heart, but um, I can't just do that
For my heart only feels, and my brain does the real, true thinking
So when we say "I Love You" are we really feeling it like we think we do?
Or are we really thinking it like we feel we do?
A couple phrases causes me to believe;
that we are indeed manipulated by our brains;
Because the yin yang is real, it's literally in black and white;
Our hearts are constantly being tricked,
And our minds are playing games that sometimes come too quick
That's why we get hurt, not only do "hurt people, hurt people"
But that's why our hearts are so naive, because our minds are too slick
You can't have good without a little bit of bad; and
You can't have bad without a little bit of good
Just like this(ese) one(s) goes(go) something along the line(s) of this(ese);
And "just because you can, doesn't mean you should"
I just feel like I finally discovered something about the heart;
Could it be our minds running the entire circus show from the start?
Like maybe I figured out the real meaning;
of the connection between the two?
There's a message in this poem,
a reality between the heart and mind
Or maybe it's just my way of thinking,
and maybe I really am just one of a kind?
Maybe I'm just finally going insane and simply overthinking;
Or maybe I'm just finally losing a battle with a ship that's sinking
Because you can't have happiness, without a little bit of pain
and you can't lose, if you don't ever intend to gain
So my question(s) is(are);
What if the heart doesn't really know?
What if the heart really doesn't know what it wants?
and what if the heart simply never even had an actual clue?
What if the heart has always been manipulated into believing what to do?
and it's always been our brains that cause the;
mind to flaunt meaningless taunts?
So this is my outlook on why I believe our hearts are;
Manipulated by, in fact, our brain.

P.S.
Does anyone else ever think about stuff like this?
Does anyone else kinda wonder and feel the same?
So what if this really has some twisted kind of meaning?
Or am I thinking way too far out of the box and this is just decieving?


Stephanie A. Ludwig
04/21/2025